The Other Scoby - Jun

Jun Scoby looks like Kombucha Scoby and even brews like Kombucha but its not Kombucha Scoby!!

There is one marked difference though. Jun Scoby feeds exclusively on Honey! I managed to get a Jun Scoby shipped all the way from US via the Happy Herbalist. Did the brewing with green tea but the final brew turned out to be quite disappointing; no bubbles, no new layer of Scoby and the drink was flat.

In short, I failed. It turned out that the honey that I was using was not pure enough (bought from Giant hypermart). By the time I used real organic Acasia honey it was too late, the Scoby had failed to function.  Disappointed, an idea cropped into my head.  Why don’t I try to train my kombucha Scoby to “feed” on honey?

Off I went to brew with the same procedure, replacing sugar with honey with kombucha Scoby.  Fast forward two weeks into the future all I got was another failed brew, proving once and for all that kombucha Scoby and honey does not mix.

After that incident I stopped brewing Jun; partly because it is very expensive to buy pure honey for brewing and also to maintain the culture. Also, the benefits from Jun is pretty much similar to Kombucha. Having said that, maybe one day in the near future I will brew Jun again, provided my dreams of owning a small apiary comes true J

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trying Kombucha for the first time? Two things you will need to know!

Image
You have heard about kombucha from your friends or maybe read about it in the internet. Now you are all eager to give it a try to see if the drink is as good as advertised. Before you take your first maiden sip, I will like to share with you two useful observations that clearly shows that kombucha is a living cultured drink. Observation 1: RawUnpasteurised Kombucha Usually when u purchase a bottle of kombucha off-shelf you might encounter the phrase raw kombucha on the label. Raw kombucha is basically kombucha that is harvested fresh from the brewing vessel without undergoing any process to halt the bacterial and yeast activity. A clear indicator if a kombucha is raw is the formation of thin strands in the drink itself. These strands are the formation of bacterial fibre in the drink. I like my kombucha raw because it is full with the benefits of live good bacterial activity and yes the microbial fiber is edible without any side effects; which bring
Read more

My Scoby is Thicker than Yours

Image
The importance of a thick and healthy Scoby At the end of the first week of my kombucha workshops I always see the glow of pride and satisfaction when a participant successfully brews their first kombucha brew and officially becomes a Kombucha mummy and daddy with the “birth” of a new “Scoby”. Is it important to obtain a thick “baby” Scoby at the end of each brew? You bet it does! A thick baby Scoby after a 10 day ferment measures around 1cm – 2cm in thickness. It is a clear visual indication that the bacteria in the ferment are healthy, active and in sync with the yeast and will continue to produce a healthy batch of kombucha in the future.  a very thick Scoby A Scoby is a network of bacterial cellulose that houses the active bacteria and yeast. Naturally the highest concentration of active bacteria and yeast is located in a new Scoby. That is why when you use a fresh virgin Scoby ( Read article on virgin scoby ) to ferment, it has the highest chance of bre
Read more

Help!! My Scoby is Floating!!

Image
Believe it or not, the phenomena of a floating Scoby happen quite regularly and it will spook the daylight out of 10 novice brewers. Scoby floating The newly formed Scoby will slowly inch higher and higher from the surface and in certain cases looks as if it is actually levitating. Quite a feet to achieve for a group of bacteria and yeast isn’t it? Based on experience a floating Scoby does not harm the end product, in fact it kombucha that is produced in such a scenario has extra fizz to it. The downside?  A thinner baby Scoby because the baby Scoby cannot grow consistently as it the gas will disrupt its growth by pushing it away from the brew. If this is happening to your brew, there is nothing for you to worry about. This phenomenon occurs due to excessive carbon dioxide that is produced through the fermentation process. In other words, the yeast in the brew is very active. Excessive carbon dioxide will slowly push the newly formed Scoby away from the brew. If left
Read more